


english hearts club

by ninetwothrees



Category: GOT7, f(x)
Genre: Canon Universe, Crack, Fluff, Friendship, GOT7 cameos, Gen, Humor, Languages, f(x) cameos
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-01-08
Updated: 2016-01-08
Packaged: 2018-05-12 15:35:11
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,267
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5671150
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ninetwothrees/pseuds/ninetwothrees
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Being multilingual should be considered cool, right? It shouldn't lead to a monthly count of humiliation? Amber wants to check because her and Jackson's experience could have fooled her. And speaking of fools...</p>
            </blockquote>





	english hearts club

**Author's Note:**

> unless stated otherwise, "regular formatting in dialogues indicates english," and _"italics indicates korean."_ (my overuse of italics for _emphasis_ aside ^^;)
> 
> warnings: bad self-indulgent humor, ~~possible~~ canon inconsistency, unbeta'd

It’s one of the rare occasions when f(x) and GOT7 promote at the same time and Amber and Jackson decide to make use of it and meet up in the hallway near their respective waiting rooms before their turns on _M! Countdown_. The place is ideal as Amber won’t have to listen to manager oppa ranting about _a million boy groups wandering in and out of a_ girl _group’s waiting room_ for once - although he does it significantly less after that day Amber locked him out. _Boys aren’t allowed,_ right?

“So how many?”

Amber looks at him suspiciously. She thought _she_ had a good chance. “Four?”

“Shit,” Jackson puts his cap down, smooths his hair back, and returns it on his head, backward this time. “Six,” he admits. “This system is rigged, just so you know. Of course you'd always win when you've been here longer.”

“What are you guys talking about?” Mark sits down next to Jackson.

“We report to each other every month on how many times we get mocked for our Korean. The loser pays up,” Amber explains, and opens her palm for Jackson.

“See, this is why I don't talk,” Mark says.

“Liar,” Jackson grumbles and adds a groan in Amber's direction. “You're an accomplished artist in a famous girl group with a solo album and composer fees.”

“Why, thank you,” Amber preens theatrically.

“My point is,” Jackson continues, “you're taking advantage of a starving _hoobae_.”

“First, you're doing more variety than, like, all our members combined. Second, should I remind you I made headlines with my crappy Korean even in the year of twenty-fifteen?”

“How long are you gonna milk that?” he complains but takes out his wallet nonetheless.

“We _could_ change the rules and make the one with less insults pay so that we're even bigger losers.”

“Ooh.” Jackson returns her cheeky grin. “Mark, you wanna join?”

“Nope.” Mark ignores Jackson sighing about his answer. “What’s your record?”

Amber and Jackson exchange a quick glance. “We’re not disclosing that…” she says.

“To keep at least _some_ of our dignity.”

“It’s classified information.”

Mark doesn’t seem to care anymore, though - Amber is almost hurt - gesturing to a familiar figure passing by. “Hey, Jaebum. Wanna hang?”

_“I'm leaving now,”_ Jaebum resorts in Korean, undoubtedly having leaderly things to do somewhere else. (Shut up, Jackson, "leaderly" _is_ a word.)

“Stop pretending you don't understand English!” Jackson shouts after him. Jaebum turns around for a moment to mouth a Korean _what?_ at him. “JB!” Jackson tries one last time, in vain, and tells Amber, “He lets the _hyung_ hierarchy slide when I speak in English.”

“That's what you think,” Mark says darkly.

“Isn't he a ‘94-liner like you?” Amber asks.

“I know! But something about January birthdays, blabla. Korean is weird.”

“Yep,” Mark and Amber say in unison.

“Hey,” Jackson nudges her and leans in closer so she can hear his whisper. “Invite Krystal.”

They both glance at her lone silhouette at the other end of the hallway. Amber shakes her head. “She’d kill me.”

Jackson’s eyes comically widen. “Does she hate us?”

“No, you idiot, it's just…” Amber pats his shoulder to convey _drop it, don't worry your pretty head about it_. “Stuff. People. Stuff.”

Jackson does drop it and they are, on the other hand, joined for a while by Sunyoung and (suspiciously soon after she leaves) Yugyeom, who seemed to have independently decided to test out random English phrases on them.

“And we don't make fun of _them_ , do we?” Jackson says once Yugyeom clears out, meaning a general _they_ , Amber assumes, since Sunyoung isn’t guilty of this particular crime, even if she can’t speak for Yugyeom, and she’s momentarily struck by Jackson’s wisdom until Mark ruins it.

“I'm sorry, Jackson, but you totally make fun of Youngjae’s English like all the time.”

“That's self-defense, _Mark_ , eat or be eaten.”

“I'm sure it is.” Amber coos at him.

“Yo, ever thought about pairing up our members? Keeping it in the family, you know what I mean?” Jackson says in a tone suggesting it's the best idea ever, when it’s possibly the very opposite.

“Technically we're not actually related,” Mark notes.

Jackson glares at him. “Could you not be so literal?”

“You know,” Amber looks from one to the other. “I'm starting to think _this_ is why he doesn't talk. Also, this pairing up thing,” she continues before Jackson can protest (and doesn’t miss Mark raising his eyebrows at her behind Jackson’s back), “never ever.”

“Why?” Jackson whines, then with impressive speed switches to deadpan. “ _You_ hate us.”

“No, but exactly.” It's incredible how she's the voice of reason for once; Jackson's presence is no coincidence. “It’d be too incestuous and you're all fetuses and it's just wrong.”

“I'm not pimping out, say, Yugyeom here, but-”

“ _All_ fetuses.”

“Whatever.”

“Anyway,” Amber sums it up. “Quick, let’s talk about something.”

“We _are_ talking,” Jackson says incredulously. “You start talking about something by talking about something, not by saying ‘let’s talk about something,’ and wow, that was a mouthful.”

“Whatever,” Amber mimics him. “I wanna speak as much English as possible before we restart the count.”

“Oh,” Jackson sobers up at the reminder of their Korean struggles. “Good thinking, I mean, don't you all sometimes feel like… so… like…” Jackson frowns as he struggles for words, and finishes, deflated, wincing at himself, “ _babo_?”

The other two gape at him. “Um. Idiot. Stupid. Dumb,” Mark starts counting off and looks over at Amber for help.

“Moron… Potty-head?” she supplies.

“I know English,” Jackson says. “There's just something about _babo_ , you know? Like I couldn't express the _feel_ with any other word.”

“There is,” Mark acknowledges.

“Wow, look at your two.” Amber laughs at them, then stops in thought before laughing anew. “Wait, I just realized something. Jackson, you're _so_ weird.”

“Only just realized?” Mark mumbles. Jackson ignores him.

“How dare you? You're weirder. Hold on, why am I weird again?”

Amber shoves him. “English isn't even your first language. Get out of our L.A. club.”

_“Elitist Americans,”_ Jackson says in Korean to their further amusement.

Then Amber’s third-born child, as Amber privately thinks of him, makes an appearance, an _M! Countdown_ script in his hands. _“MC-ssi!”_ she exclaims.

“Amber!” Bambam high-fives her. “Sorry, I have to go. Call me!”

_“You two talk on the phone?”_ Jackson butts in before he can leave.

“No?” Bambam says, like he doesn’t understand where the question is coming from. _“Speaking of which…”_ He takes out his phone and shows them the screen.

_“Is that…?”_ Jackson squints at it. _“Did you change your wallpaper to you and Key hyung?”_

_“Looks good, right?”_ Bambam says proudly, plus something in Thai, and waves them goodbye.

“It used to be me and him,” Jackson informs Amber, aghast. _“Yah!”_ he yells after the disappearing Bambam.

“Aww, jealous baby Jackson. You're still my favorite,” she assures him.

Jackson’s face lights up. “I'll _noona_ you just for that. Thanks, _noona. Noona, I love you._ ”

“No!” Amber squirms in his attacking embrace.

“Dispatch _arriving_ ,” Qian sticks her phone camera in their faces. It's a busy hallway. She points to her fresh makeup. _“Come on, they want you on the chair.”_

Amber lets herself be pulled up. _“Think about it,”_ Jackson says in sudden Chinese -  which, Amber realizes a moment later, was meant to be secretive -  pointing from her and Qian to Mark and himself.

“No,” Amber says pointedly, while Qian goes, _“Think about what?”_

“She's Chinese, _babo_ ,” is the last thing she hears Mark say behind them.

Amber shakes her head. _“You don't want to know.”_

**Author's Note:**

> the irony of writing unbeta'd english dialogues in a language-themed fic when english isn't MY first language /o\ bye


End file.
